


24 Pairs

by JohnAmendAll



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-24
Packaged: 2017-11-22 01:22:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/604263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JohnAmendAll/pseuds/JohnAmendAll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles written from a list of (mostly randomly-generated) pairing prompts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trouncing of the Autons

**Author's Note:**

> These drabbles were written based on pairings from a [randomly-shuffled list](http://www.seasip.info/Misc/shuffle.html) of Doctors and companions, plus a couple of non-random pairings.
> 
> The first pairing generated was Three/Nyssa.

The final Auton disintegrated under the converging jets of blue liquid. Cautiously, Nyssa stood up.

"You did it, Doctor," she said.

"Quite a remarkable little formula, that antiplastic." He put his hand on her shoulder. "And without your help, I couldn't have synthesized it in time."

"Does that mean I get the job?"

"I'll arrange things with the Brigadier." The Doctor chuckled. "Once he's recovered from having to arm his men with 'blasted water pistols.' Welcome aboard, Nyssa."

"I think we'll work very well together." She leaned against him, the velvet of his coat soft against her cheek. "Don't you?"


	2. Another Way Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peri / Second Doctor.

"What..." Peri managed to open her eyes, and recognised the shabby, beaming figure standing over her. "What happened? Where's _my_ Doctor?"

The Doctor took her hand in both of his. "I'm afraid he thinks you're dead."

"Dead?"

"On Thoros Beta. Fortunately your consciousness was saved in the Matrix, and once I found a suitable body—"

" _Suitable body?_ " Peri sat up. In the mirror, a turquoise- skinned alien stranger stared dumbly back at her. "That's me?"

Shaking all over, she buried her inhumanly beautiful new face in his shoulder.

"Doctor?" she said, after a while.

"Yes?"

"Thanks." She swallowed. "I guess."


	3. Yaoi Fangirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Doctor / Tenth Doctor.

"Well, that all seems quite clear, my boy." The First Doctor tapped the control panel. "The bomb can be defused if we activate the gantry switch and this one at the same time."

"Right." The Tenth pulled out a coin. "Heads I do the..."

"How are you getting on?" Vicki's worried voice called from outside.

"Nearly ready," the Tenth Doctor called back. "We just need to toss for who goes on top." He turned back to his earlier self. "Heads I do the gantry..."

Leaning against the door, Vicki wondered why her cheeks suddenly felt hot and her legs weak.


	4. Down With The Ship II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Polly / Adric.

TEN MINUTES TO IMPACT, the screen read. Polly glanced around at her fellow travellers; most of them seemed to be panicking, a few praying.

"Excuse me." 

It was the young man in yellow sitting beside her. 

"I've never been with a woman," he stammered. "And I was wondering. You know. Since we're going to die..." 

Polly managed a queasy smile. "Don't worry." 

"You mean you really—?" 

"Oh, no." Polly patted his hand. "I meant we're not going to die, because the Doctor's going to save us in the nick of time." 

Oddly, he didn't seem very satisfied by this reassurance.


	5. Hero Worship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fourth Doctor / Katarina.

"You won't recognise me, of course, but I'm the Doctor."

Katarina nodded. "I believe you."

"What, just like that?"

"Of course. It is well known that the gods, when they come to Earth, can take any form they choose. Doubtless they have reasons for their choices..." She looked the Doctor up and down. "Reasons unknowable to mortals. It is said that in order to ravish the Princess Europa, Zeus took the form of a great white bull."

"Ah. So you think I've taken this form in order to seduce you."

Katarina tossed her head. "A girl can hope, can't she?"


	6. Perfectly Reasonable Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey / Turlough.

"Can we go through it again?" Mickey asked.

Turlough sighed. "We had to use all our clothes to block the drain. That way the cell filled with water and we could float up to the ventilation duct."

"With you so far."

"The vaseline was to oil the doors so the guards wouldn't hear us, and the suitcase of chocolate weasels... I'll think of something."

"Yeah." Mickey ran over their story in his head. "Wouldn't it be simpler just to tell the Doctor this **was** what it looked like?"

Turlough looked contemptuous. "What sort of a plan do you call that?"


	7. This Bed Ain't Big Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah Jane Smith / Seventh Doctor.

Sarah tried adjusting her position, but there was obviously no way she could sleep like that. She leaned over and shook the Doctor's shoulder.

"Sarah?" He was awake at once, looking around wildly. "What is it?"

"It's poking into me again," Sarah said.

He sighed, and smoothed down his question mark pyjamas. "I thought we'd rrresolved this matter."

"We did. I'm keeping to my side of the bargain. And the bed."

"I think you're taking a somewhat rrrigid interpretation..."

"Doctor," Sarah said firmly. "There's no room for three of us in this relationship. Either that umbrella goes, or I do!"


	8. How Not To Pull

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sixth Doctor / Amy.

The Doctor drew himself up to his full width. "I'm nine hundred years old! Don't you realise what that means?"

"It's been a while?" Amy suggested.

She hadn't thought it possible for the Doctor to swell further, but he did. "Certainly not! I could name names, though they wouldn't mean anything to _you_. Dread Empress Grelvia, the Terrible Zodin, Janice Rothwell..."

"Janice Rothwell?" Amy repeated. "She was my maths teacher!" She went very pale. "Look, just... forget it. OK?"

She ran from the room.

The Doctor nodded approvingly. "Then again," he remarked, "the Janice I knew was from Sirius Four."


	9. For President and Planet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> River / Rassilon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first non-random pairing; I chose these characters by hand.

In the dimly lit bar, Mels stiffened as she heard her contact's voice.

"Vodka martini," he was saying. "Shaken, not stirred."

A moment later he was at Melody's table, the drink in his hand.

"You got it?" she asked.

"If you can give me what I want."

Reluctantly, she handed him the stolen datacore, receiving in return a small bottle labelled _Extract of Cercis Siliquastrum_. He rose to depart; on an impulse, she caught his sleeve.

"You got anything planned for this evening?" she asked.

He turned his dark gaze on her.

"The things I do for Gallifrey," he murmured.


	10. Clean Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria / Rose.

Making sure Rose was sleeping soundly, Victoria slipped out of their shared bed.

She should have noticed the signs earlier, she supposed. She'd been trying to convince herself for far too long that she'd been worrying about nothing. Perhaps it was lucky that Rose had talked in her sleep. If not, Victoria might have stayed with her until the inevitable cataclysm.

A girl who dreamed about the TARDIS— who'd whispered the word 'Doctor' in that tone— could bring nothing to Victoria but disaster.

With the greatest haste compatible with silence, she dressed, crept downstairs, and walked out of Rose's life.


	11. Thinking of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martha/Steven.

"You're really a Spacefleet flying ace?" Martha asked.

"Really." Steven put his hand on hers. "Why not take a ride with me? I promise you you'll see stars."

Martha dissolved into helpless giggles. "That's such a cheesy pickup line."

"So that's a 'no', then?"

Martha looked across at him. He was tall, dark, handsome, a man of action. She half closed her eyes and tried imagining him as the Doctor. It didn't quite work, but perhaps after a couple more drinks...

"I think it's more of a 'yes'," she said. "Later on. And... could you change into a blue suit?"


	12. Shopping For Curtains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace/Romana II.

"I don't see why we've got to buy curtains," Ace grumbled. "Just 'cos we're living together. It'll be doilies next."

"We need curtains for our bijou love nest because _someone_ set the last ones on fire," Romana replied, keeping her tone reasonable.

Ace scowled. "I'm not a curtain person. Why can't we blow up vampires or something?"

"If you're good maybe we'll do that this afternoon." Romana held up a bolt of fabric. "Now, what do you think of this?"

"You serious? That looks like puke!" Ace pushed her to one side. "Out the way, Lollipop. I'm taking charge here."


	13. A Proposition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry/Jack.

"Are you sure?" Harry said. "I kept being asked that at public school."

"Did you ever say 'yes?'" Jack asked.

Harry shook his head. "If you'd seen the boys in my form you wouldn't need to ask."

"Don't worry." Jack put an arm round Harry's shoulder. "If they were school dinners I'd be a gourmet banquet. You know what they say about trying stuff?"

"'Try everything once, except incest and folk dancing,'" Harry quoted.

Jack slapped his forehead. " _That's_ where I went wrong. Folk dancing. Just wait till you see what I can do with a hanky on a stick."


	14. Fair Exchange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leela/Ian.

Ian decided he rather envied Leela her stoicism. Any other woman he knew might have been taken aback to find her mind inhabiting his body, and vice versa. Leela hardly seemed to care.

"It is obvious that we have been cursed by an evil idol," she was saying. "Our tellers of tales warned us of such things."

"Do your stories say how to _break_ this curse?"

Leela nodded. "They say: the man and the woman must lie together."

"I bet they do." He pushed his (her?) hair back. "Just what sort of library did they have on that survey ship?"


	15. Unforeseen Consequence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam/Eleventh Doctor.

Adam stared down at the strip of paper in his hand.

"But I can't be pregnant," he protested. "How can I be pregnant? I don't have the right bits. It doesn't make any sense." 

The Doctor patted his shoulder. "I've found that common sense isn't much use when it comes to children conceived on the TARDIS. Best not to worry about it." 

"That's easy for you to say... hang on." Adam swung round. "If you knew this was going to happen, why didn't you say something? I need this like—" 

"Like a hole in the head?" the Doctor suggested, brightly.


	16. The Hitch-Hiker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brigadier/Ray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second bonus (as opposed to randomly generated) prompt.

Captain Lethbridge- Stewart had hardly noticed the motorbike until it drew up beside him in a spray of gravel. Its rider removed her helmet, revealing dark hair and an impish face.

"Need a lift?" she asked.

"Are you going anywhere near Saint Athan?"

She grinned. "I am now."

"That's very good of you, Miss..?"

"Defwydd. Don't try to pronounce it, just call me Ray. Everyone does."

"Thank you." He climbed aboard. "I hope I'm not taking you out of your way."

"Oh, I'm ready to go _all_ the way if you are." She smirked. "So you'd better hang on tight."


	17. And Stinted Not The Measure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben / Mel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is from 'The Buxom Country Maid' as sung by Jon Pertwee [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhCYs6p3pRQ).

"Blimey." Ben closed the refrigerator. "This is all rabbit food. Haven't you got any steak or anything?"

"Certainly not! I'm a vegetarian. Red meat's terribly bad for you."

Ben shrugged. "Got to keep my strength up, haven't I?"

"You should take proper care of your body." Mel ran her hand down his chest, and grudgingly admitted: "I suppose you are in decent physical condition."

Her questing fingers slid lower.

"You want to watch that," Ben said, as she started unbuckling his belt. "I mightn't be suitable for vegetarians."

Mel looked up at him. "I think I'll have to risk it."


	18. She's Got A Thing For Scientists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoe / Tegan.

"If you want to sleep with me," Tegan's new astrophysicist friend said, "why didn't you just ask?"

Tegan blushed. "That isn't how we do things, where I come from. If I'd started off like that with my last girlfriend..."

"You've been in a relationship before? I haven't."

"So all this must be new to you?" Tegan felt some of her confidence returning. "Don't worry, I'll—"

"Oh, no," Zoe said. "I've got a reasonable grasp of the subject; I took the Lesbian Studies module." For a moment, she frowned. "It was quite annoying. I only got a 'B' in the practical."


	19. Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ninth Doctor / Romana I.

Despite all Rose's pleadings, the Doctor still insisted on spending the night alone. There were some parts of his subconscious nobody deserved to share.

This time, _she_ was frowning at him out of a mirror. "I should never have let you run around on your own."

 _Of course,_ something at the back of his mind mused. _She'd have to be wearing that face. How she was before I screwed everything up for her._

"Romana." He reached out to her, but she receded. "Forgive me."

He woke alone, in the darkness of the TARDIS. There was no answer. There never was.


	20. War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie / Eighth Doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't tamper with the order in which the pairs came out of the generator, so it's just a fortunate coincidence that this chapter and the previous one are adjacent.

They'd found the stranger on the moor at sunset, and brought him to Jamie. But he could only confirm what they'd already suspected.

"He's not got long," Jamie said, shaking his head sadly. There was nothing he could do, except perhaps to make the man's last minutes more comfortable.

"Jamie." The stranger's hand shot out and gripped Jamie's. "You're alive."

"You know me?"

"They're all dead," the man muttered feverishly. "I killed them all. Why are you still here?"

Jamie ignored the man's ramblings. "Hush now."

"Jamie..." his patient whispered. "Maybe there's still something to live for."

And he regenerated.


	21. Mighty Weapon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dodo / Rory.

It was rare for anyone to want to share Rory's endless vigil. But it was clear that Dodo Chaplet wasn't the usual sort of girl; there was a strangeness about her that reminded him of Amy. She'd recovered from the revelation of his true nature almost at once.

She put her hand on his arm. "And that's really a gun?"

"Yeah, it—" 

There was a brilliant flash and a 'whoosh' of displaced air. 

"Lumme." Dodo looked at the neat hole that had been blown through a stuffed Mississippi Kangaroo. "You haven't got anything else that goes off unexpectedly, have you?"


	22. Contest of Politeness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liz/Donna.

No matter how many times they counted, the answer remained the same. There were still two of them. And there was still only one bed.

"I'll take the chair," Liz said— not for the first, or the fifteenth time. "I'm younger."

Donna bridled. "I'm not some old biddy. You need your sleep more than me!"

"Please can you look at this rationally?"

"You're saying my mind's going! How dare you..."

In the end, Liz spent the night in the bath and Donna in the wardrobe. When the Doctor found them the next day, the situation proved quite difficult to explain.


	23. All in the Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo/Susan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I let this one grow to double length, because in the original drabble Susan simply couldn't get a word in edgeways.

"All our people are telepaths," Susan said. "Some stronger than others, of course."

Jo's eyes widened. "You can read minds? Can you read mine?"

"Yes... but I've got to touch you."

"Just like on _Star Trek_!"

Slowly, Susan reached out and touched Jo's cheek.

_Jo could sense herself as a tiny thing, clutched in the grasp of something huge and alien, something whose power was flooding towards her. It reminded Jo of when she'd been small, paddling at the seaside, and a wave had knocked her down. But this wave was hot and colossal and it swept through her from head to toe..._

Jo opened her eyes, and found she was on the floor, gasping for breath, her hair and clothes damp with sweat. Susan was kneeling beside her.

"Did we just..." she began, then nodded to herself. "Yes, I think we just."

She tried to get up, and succeeded after a couple of goes.

"I think I need to change," she said. "Gosh, it's a good thing we didn't try that on a bus or something, isn't it?"

Susan watched Jo stagger away, then directed a baffled look at her own hand.

 _It's never done that before_ , she thought.


	24. Marital Duties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifth Doctor / Barbara.

"Take this." Barbara thrust a heavy shopping bag into the Doctor's hand. "And those fruit had better not bruise, or I'll give you what for."

"Barbara—" the Doctor protested feebly. 

"Yes, I know. The Drahvins could invade any day, whoever they are. Well, until they do, you can make yourself useful while Ian's away." She handed him another bulging shopping bag. "Come along. If the weather holds, you can paint the fence this afternoon. And if it doesn't..." She smiled wickedly. "I'll think of something." 

Vanquished, the Doctor tailed along after her. This, he was thinking, was definitely not cricket.


End file.
